JEWELS: Sunday Matinee

Sunday May 25, 2008 matinee - My friend Deborah was down from Connecticut today for New York City Ballet's JEWELS. EMERALDS (Gwyneth Muller photo, pre-curtain) cast its spell yet again. Rachel Rutherford has danced this ballet many times but I thought today she had an extra quality of expansiveness and refinement of gesture that were especially appealing, notably in the opening duet with Stephen Hanna. Their dancing had a nice sustained feel to it. Sara Mearns brings lush elegance to her dancing here and Jonathan Stafford continues to impress in cavalier roles. Alina Dronova and Ana Sophia Scheller were well-contrasted in the pas de trois and Sean Suozzi added more laurel wreaths to his collection with his technical brilliance and his knack for always putting the right finishing touch on everything.

Teresa Reichlen's performance in the 'soloist' role in RUBIES has been developing steadily since she first started dancing it. She's got the gams and the glamour and this year - notably as the Siren and in WESTERN SYMPHONY - she has really found her 'presence' onstage. When the curtain rose with Tess towering over the semi-circle of dancers like a goddess, a rush of excitement swept thru the house. She went on to give a remarkable performance on all counts and truly deserved the loud acclaim that greeted her as she stepped out for a solo bow. Ashley Bouder and Benjamin Millepied blazed thru the steps with total assurance and their sexy, jaunty by-play had the audience eating out of their hands. Ben likes to pull new aerial tricks out of his dance bag in the section where the boys chase him around the stage, and it was fun to see Benjamin sailing into the air ahead of his pursuers. Bouder loves to play with this music: when Ben puts her into a balance and steps back, she just stays there with a little smile on her face. Her multiple pirouettes multiply exponentially. Tess, Ashley & Ben dazzled the audience completely.

What could possibly follow this kind of RUBIES? A Wendy Whelan/Philip Neal DIAMONDS...that's what! They brought the afternoon to a thrilling finish with their imperial dancing and if the corps wasn't always in perfect unison at every moment it hardly mattered in the scheme of things. If I could change one thing in the current NYCB DIAMONDS, I would take away the feathery accessories to the girls' headpieces and shoulders. They are distracting.

With Saskia Beskow still out, Faye Arthurs moved up to one of the 'leading-demi' roles (is that a contradiction of terms?) so that it was she and Gwyneth Mulller who had the most to do and of course I was loving every minute of it. Later they were joined by Glenn Keenan and Kaitlyn Gilliland and the four of them were so pleasing to watch. But whenever Wendy was onstage, nothing could pry my eyes off her. I'm guessing I've maybe seen a score of Wendy DIAMONDS - maybe more - and I love how she always keeps it so fresh and vivid, how she manages to make everything seem so profound while in the meantime she herself is so light and pure, and how the music is gently distilled thru her arms and hands and her daring sweeps into backbend. After yesterday's IN G MAJOR I wondered if she and Philip could keep that level up, and they did. They surpassed it, actually. Philip's partnering was so smooth and his solo passages are always so musical and never done just for show. More of those spins en attitude, too...he should have them patented. At the end of the performance, as the applause forced Wendy & Philip out for a third bow, I felt once again the addictive power of New York City Ballet. Sometimes I look at my calendar and think I am going too often but on days like this you realize you can't really afford to miss ANYTHING.

Quite a few of the NYCB regulars were there (Happy birthday, Susan!) and I think everyone agreed that the performance was pretty magical. It was really lovely when Teresa Reichlen's mom came over to say hello; she and her husband were up from Virginia for the holiday weekend and they sure picked a fine time for a visit because aside from the beautiful weather, they got to see Tess giving some of her finest performances. Later Tess herself came out and I realized where she gets her height from: her dad looks like he's a foot taller than his dancing daughter.   

Comments

[Deborah]

I was there yesterday as well, and simply loved this performance of "Jewels." I am so pleased that you wrote about Philip Neal. From his days in the corps until now, I've always enjoyed watching Philip. In the past few years he's
been especially terrific, and it seems like audiences are appreciating him more as well (good!).

[Philip]

I think Philip is at his peak now; it's unfortunate that he had to deal with a serious injury a few years ago but he came back and he's better than ever. I always like watching him and Wendy together.

And of course he & Kyra Nichols were one of the all-time great NYC Ballet partnerships. They were as exciting - in a very different way - as Jock & Wendy or Peter & Suzanne.

[jolene]

There must be something extra special about NYCB dancing "Jewels". Out of all the Balanchine pieces, I'd like to see this before I die.

I'm just glad that SF Ballet is doing "Jewels" Next year!

[Philip]

There are two schools of thought: one is that no Company dances JEWELS like NYCB and the other is that any other Company that does JEWELS is bound to be better than NYCB. I think it's sort of a "grass is greener" syndrome. I'm sure SFB's JEWELS will be beautiful.

[Sarah]

I wish I had been there! I LOVE watching Ashley dance the Rubies role. I had the blessing of being there when she debuted and it was beyond electrifying!

[Laura]

I adore Jewels and was so excited to see Sara Mearns in her Diamonds debut last year. The casting for all three sections is just amazing and I literally never tire of seeing it. I saw the Kirov do Rubies earlier this spring and they were nowhere close to our own Megan Fairchild or Ashley Bouder. We are so lucky!!!

[Philip]

I like it that this year Ashley Bouder is alternating RUBIES and EMERALDS...